The fine Thucydidean speeches, the dramatic power of grasping character, and the pathos and poetry that run through the stories, along with a humour such as is shown in the Edda, and a varied grace of style that never flags or palls, make Snorri one of the greatest of historians.
His exploits and adventures form the theme of a number of the Eddaic poems, and also of several stories in the prose Edda.
His literary activity was enormous, extending from his Edda Skandinawska (1807) to his Geographie des Arabes (2 vols., Paris, 1851).
See further Iceland, Literature, and Edda.
To these must be added a large number of Old Norse writings including the older Edda and the prose Edda (the chief authorities for Northern mythology), Islands Landnamabok and many sagas dealing with the history of families in Iceland (such as Eyrbyggia Saga) or with the lives of Norwegian and other kings, both historical and legendary (in Heimskringla, Fornmanna Sogur and Rafn's Fornaldar Sogur Norr landa).